Author
Topic: # of medium supers (Read 2094 times)

Hi all this spring I have 2 packages of bees coming and I already received most of my equipment. I'm going with an all medium hive in an open brood configuration. I got to thinking though. Do I have enough medium hive bodies? I only ordered enough for 5 max per hive and if the bees don't do much this year that'd be plenty, but shouldn't I have more on hand just in case there is a really good flow and one or both really take off? If so how many would you recommend?

It is enough for long time. When colonies occupy 4 mediums, get them more.

But don't feed hives so full of syrup that they cap syrup/honey large areas during feeding. Let them take their food from nature. It gives room for new brood and you get big hives. Bees draw new combs when they need them. Don't force them build too much.

Yoy may want to keep a nuc box handy in case one of your hives throws a swarm. It would be a shame to lose them if it happens and you have a chance at catching it. ;)

That happens to beginner often because they have not experinece when to get new room for bees. If bees hive small hive with honey swarm escape without warning. When it seem that one box is occupyed, you may put second box lowest under brood box. So brood area is warm and colony can enlarge into lower box.

Otherwise it is quite impossible that small nucleus will swarm in same summer.

We run mediums here, three supers for them, the rest for honey (we hope!). We started out with five total per hive, but had more them on site to build, when we needed them. Right now there's 30 made up in my diningroom, awaiting paint - we're getting ready for three nukes we're putting at our home in Maine and two packages we're installing over at my mother's.

Yoy may want to keep a nuc box handy in case one of your hives throws a swarm. It would be a shame to lose them if it happens and you have a chance at catching it. ;)

Yeah I figured on that possibility. Since they're fairly cheap I bought a couple nuc's and frames the same time I got the rest of the equipment. Heck if one or both of the colonies do well enough I'll make an attempt to do a split in early fall. Seening as how this will be my first year I'll be plenty happy if the simply live and make it through winter.